Splits
by FannyT
Summary: Hermione and the others start their sixth year. Of course, life at Hogwarts isn't always simple... and this year isn't any easier, with new teachers, new students and new puzzles to solve. And through it all Harry and Malfoy keep fighting...
1. Chapter 1

Splits

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter. Or his mates. Or his school. Or…

Chapter One

"Mm, sixth year!" Hermione exclaimed, sinking into a seat in their usual compartment right at the end of the Hogwarts Express. "And this year we have no difficult exams or anything. A year of freedom before we start preparing for our NEWTS!"

"And you're happy? I'd have thought you'd be heartbroken over that," said Ron casually, poking Harry in the side. "Budge over, mate."

Hermione shot her boyfriend a contemptuous look and then dug her _Standard Book of Spells, grade Six_ out of her backpack. She started to flick through it, looking for a spell to turn Ron into a frog. Ron, blissfully unaware of this, started filling Harry in on what they'd heard in the Prefects' Compartment.

"The new Prefects are a lot of duffers, if you ask me… Ginny might be good, I don't know, but guess who the other Prefect from Gryffindor is? Our own little Snaparazzi, your fan Colin Creevey. That snotty idiot Zacharias Smith is one of the Prefects for Hufflepuff, and the rest are of no particular interest, no one we know.

"You know, with Fred and George out of school I think I might dare to do a bit more as a Prefect. It was harder with them around, when they were always teasing me… I think they were pissed off by mum's "that's everyone in the family" when I got made Prefect… you should have seen the look on their faces when Ginny got the badge, too. I think they're feeling as if they were switched at birth or something…" Ron prattled on for a while and Hermione tuned out, becoming deeply absorbed in a chapter about a new complicated kind of Switching Spells and forgetting all about frogs. Suddenly however, something Ron said caught her attention again.

"…oh, and Pansy Parkinson saw a mouse in the compartment and screamed so loud that Seamus – he was next door – fainted. He thought it was a Banshee."

"Stupid cow," said Hermione vehemently. She had never forgiven Pansy for the continuous "chipmunk!"/ "squirrel!"/ "rodent!" comments she had had to endure before her teeth shrunk. Hermione's teeth was the one feature she had really _hated_ about herself, and then Pansy had to go and make it worse by taunting her about them loud enough for the entire school to hear.

"Ah, don't worry about her," said Ron soothingly, probably guessing some of what Hermione was thinking. "You know she hasn't got enough brains to fill an eggcup."

"Pugface and her kennel of lapdogs," said Harry with a crooked grin. "_Yip yip, oh Pansy, you're so funny! Ti-hi!_ They make me sick."

"Uh, excuse me?" said a voice by the door. Hermione looked up to see one of the just mentioned lapdogs standing in front of them. She had never bothered to find out the girl's name and didn't care either – it wasn't as if they'd ever be friends, was it?

She was small and skinny, her dark hair and eyes a huge contrast to her pale skin. Hermione looked closer and saw that the pallor was distinctly unhealthy. There were shadows under her eyes. She had that sunken-in look that comes when you haven't had a decent meal for some time.

"What?" snapped Harry, looking at her with distaste. "What's one of the herd doing in this part of the train?"

"Yip yip," said Ron quietly, with the trace of a smile. Harry, however, was not smiling.

"Shoo," he said viciously. "If you came here to bring me any message from Malfoy or something you can just tell him to stuff it up his – "

"Harry," said Hermione.

"Well, why else would she be here?" asked Harry angrily, acting as if the girl wasn't standing right in front of him. "There are no Slytherin nests in this part of the train."

The girl stood silently in the doorway. For some reason she suddenly reminded Hermione of some wild animal – a wolf – caught in the headlights of a car. She looked trapped, scared, angry and defiant, all at the same time. She glared at them for a brief second, then without another word she left, slamming the door hard behind her and making the glass crack.

"Reparo," said Hermione automatically, before turning to Harry. "Honestly, don't you think you went a little too far? She was all alone and you just _attacked_ her. I think she was really hurt by what you said."

"So?" said Harry disdainfully. "She would do the same to you or me any day if she had the chance. That's the speciality of Slytherin – effective bullying."

"That's no reason – " Hermione began hotly, but stopped when she heard someone laugh softly. The door had slid open again, and someone was leaning against the frame, his blond hair falling into his eyes, arms crossed over his chest.

"What's this?" asked Draco Malfoy, with an air of great surprise. "One of the kind and noble Gryffindors is actually sticking up for a filthy, unworthy Slytherin? What brings us this honour? I assure you, my eyes would have been filled with tears of gratitude if it weren't for my complete inability to feel emotions, due to being a cold-hearted bastard. May I kiss your shoes?"

Ron's eyes blazed and Harry jumped to his feet, but Hermione merely frowned, looking searchingly at Malfoy. There was a bitterness to his sarcasm she had never noticed before.

"What are you doing here, Malfoy?" asked Harry tightly, his hand in his back pocket where Hermione knew he kept his wand, despite the danger of losing buttocks.

"Tradition, Potter," came the answer languidly. "Every year when we've taken the Hogwarts Express I've come in to taunt you, and I wouldn't want to disappoint you by not showing up."

"Thoughtful. I'm impressed you dare to come without your bodyguards though."

Hermione caught Ron's eye and they both sighed inaudibly. This looked like developing into the usual Harry vs. Draco Test of Power – meaning they'd insult each other until one of them cracked. It could go on for a while. Ron sat down and started setting up the board for a solitary chess game, and Hermione buried her nose in the book again, keeping one ear on the conversation in case Harry ran out of witty replies and needed backing-up.

"Well, when I'm just in for a few verbal insults Crabbe and Goyle aren't of much help," Malfoy said matter-of-factly, inspecting a nail. "And I guessed you wouldn't dare to attack me, seeing as last time we faced off you had to outnumber us... what was it? Nine against three?... to beat us."

"This is coming from the guy who tried to ambush me on the way from the toilets. Didn't your mother tell you it's bad manners to attack from behind?"

Hermione sighed again and put her book down, carefully marking the page. The argument had gotten out of hand quicker than usual – if they were already insulting each other's mothers then curses and hexes wouldn't be far off. She threw Ron a quick look and reached into her bag.

Harry and Draco had meanwhile gotten tired off talking and pulled out their wands. There was a double shout of "Expelliarmus!" and two wands flew out of the hands of their owners. Harry and Draco stared, shocked, at the other two people in the compartment who both had their wands out, Ron's pointing at Harry, Hermione's at Draco.

"Impedimenta," said Ron lazily and Harry froze in midstep, halfway to his wand, just as Draco toppled over, hit by Hermione's Full Body Bind. She turned him over gently and smiled when she saw his eyes glaring up at her.

"I wonder why the eyes are still movable, and not affected by the Bind?" she pondered. "Maybe so others can see that the person hasn't been Stunned or Petrified. What happens if you Enervate a person who is already conscious? That could have serious consequences, I guess."

"What the hell do you think you're doing? Are you out of your mind!" snarled Harry, struggling against the bonds of the Jinx. Ron looked wary.

"Take it easy, Harry. I don't want to Bind you like Malfoy too."

"We promised Lupin we wouldn't let you and Malfoy get at each other's throats," Hermione explained. "Impedimenta." Harry glared daggers at her as she renewed the Jinx, but she didn't seem to even notice, gazing at Ron.

"Will you help me carry Malfoy back to his carriage?" she asked. "I think that would be best."

"Yeah, let's go," Ron answered, lifting Draco's shoulders while Hermione grabbed his legs. "And you're staying here," Ron added to Harry, picked up his and Draco's wands on the way out and then locked the door behind him. "Alohomora."

The Jinx on Harry wore off when they had gone about halfway down the corridor. They could hear him cursing and banging on the door all the way into the next carriage.

"You know when we get back we are going to get so seriously yelled at," panted Hermione, feeling that Draco certainly was heavier than he looked. "I hope no one unlocks the door while we are gone."

"Whatever," said Ron. "He deserves some punishment for the way he's been behaving this summer. I know he's had a hard time, but Sirius was our friend too and you don't see me hexing Ginny for giggling too loudly. He needs to learn how to behave with people."

Two carriages down they decided to Unbind Draco – they couldn't be bothered to carry him further. They leaned him against a wall and Hermione performed the countercurse. He fell to the floor and raised himself up instantly, glaring at them both.

"We're not kidding about promising Lupin to keep you two away from each other. We'll be keeping an eye on you," said Hermione, smiling slightly.

"Here's your wand. Now scram, git," Ron added, throwing the wand to Draco, who caught it easily and stowed it in his pocket, but made no sign of leaving.

"You two are sickening," he spat suddenly. "Think you're so good, don't you? Did you ever, just once, in all your Gryffindor-glory, stop for a minute and think about whether you might be wrong in anything you do?" He spat on the floor in front of them and walked off.

"Whoa," said Ron after a short pause, looking surprised. "What was that all about? What's this about our Gryffindor glory and stuff all of a sudden?"

Hermione didn't answer. She was deep in thought about a lot of things – the unknown girl, what had she wanted? Why was Malfoy suddenly so bitter? Why was Harry being an idiot? How would they be able to keep their promise to Lupin when Harry was picking fights like some kind of Blast-ended Screwt with a morning temper?

………………………………………

_It was the beginning of summer and Harry was home at Privet Drive. Hermione and Ron were staying together at the Burrow. They had become a couple just before the end of term, and were trying to think of a good way to tell Harry. (It later turned out they didn't have to – he heard all about it from Ginny.)_

_Lupin was over for dinner one night and wanted to speak with the two of them. _

"_Does Harry have any serious enemy at Hogwarts?" he asked, making them smile. _

"_Yes, I guess you could say that," Hermione answered, grinning broadly. "He and Draco Malfoy practically try to kill each other when they have the chance."_

_Lupin did not smile. _

"_That is bad," he said, a worried frown creasing his face. "I was afraid of that. You see, Harry has such a lot of fury inside right now, and I think that Draco will be – in his eyes – the perfect target to vent his anger on. It could get really nasty – no one knows what he might do. And just imagine what would happen when the Daily Prophet found out. Field day."_

"_So what do you want us to do?" grinned Ron, who was having difficulty seeing the whole thing as serious. "Lock Harry in a cupboard and only let him out for lessons?"_

"_No," Lupin answered, "but I'd like you to break up every fight between him and Draco Malfoy."_

"_WHAT!" Ron exclaimed. "Do you know how hard that'll be!"_

"_Lupin, they fight all the time!" said Hermione. "It would be impossible!"_

"_I just want you to make sure they don't hurt each other," Lupin said seriously. "Let them bicker, let them insult each other, let them fight as long as they stick to words. But don't let them pull a wand on each other. Harry has a lot of power, but it makes itself known through hexes and curses. He's not a Charmworker, he's not a Healer or a Transfiguration expert, he's terrible at Potions and judging from the state of his room – Tonks told me about it – he hasn't grasped the household spells too well either. But he's extremely good at Defence Against the Dark Arts. That's good in one way, but at the same time not. He has a lot of power to hurt others. For the sake of Draco Malfoy, and for Harry's own sake, too, please keep an eye on him."_

…………………………………………

"Well, Lupin couldn't have made it harder for us," Ron grumbled as they walked back down to the last carriage. "Keep Harry and Malfoy from fighting… he could just as well have told us to stop Hagrid being fond of big hairy things that can… wait, he makes it sound so good when he says it… oh yeah, creatures that _can take care of themselves_. I wonder how Grawp is doing now? Taking care of himself, no doubt…"

"I wonder what that Slytherin girl wanted?" pondered Hermione. "She looked like she wanted to ask us a favour or something… but that's stupid. Why would she go to _us_?"

"No idea," Ron shrugged. "Fancy explaining to Harry, by the way?"

"Isn't it your turn?"

"I tackled him about not being allowed to stomp around in the house during the middle of the night."

"You had help from your mum. And anyway, _I_ talked to him last time he threatened to curse us because they wouldn't let him into the Order of the Phoenix meetings."

"You know, I've wondered for a while why he's angry at _us_ about that. Where did his sense of logic go?"

"Nobody knows," sighed Hermione. "Well, he's had a lot to cope with and I guess since Sirius was actually the closest he had to a dad, now that you think about it, it hit him even harder than we thought. It's been tough, of course, and we have to accept that... it's still your turn to talk to him."

"Do I have to?"

"I'll go and look for that Slytherin girl, OK? I'll come back in a while."

"He'll have skinned me alive by then."

"Good luck." She kissed him on the cheek and went back the way she had come, wondering what on earth she would say if she against all odds found the girl. On her way through the train she was hailed by several different people, all of whom wanted to know how Harry was doing. It irritated her a little.

_When he started school he was a celebrity_, she thought, _then he was the most hated guy in school for losing all those points and then hero for winning them back. In his second year he was the heir of Slytherin, killing muggle-borns, then that passed, too. A year ago he was a lunatic. Now everyone wants to be his friend. Well, it's not weird he cracked._

In the fourth carriage from her own she ran into Blaise Zabini, who almost absent-mindedly stuck out his foot and tripped her on her way past. She straightened up and glared at him, wishing they were already at school so she could put him in detention. (Being a Prefect simply _rocked_ sometimes.)

_What am I doing?_ she asked herself suddenly. _I'm going looking for Slytherins, the last people I want to talk to._ She turned to go back to her own carriage, set on forgetting about the girl who had visited them earlier, no matter how lost and hurt and sick she had looked… wait, where did that thought come from...

There was a shrill giggle in the compartment just behind her and she spun around immediately. Only one person laughed like that. And where Pansy was, there were also all her girlfriends…

Feeling that she might as well talk to the girl now that she had stumbled over them, Hermione took a deep breath and pulled the door to the compartment open.

Pansy's reaction was unexpected and very disturbing. As soon as she became aware of Hermione she opened her mouth and let out a terrified scream of about seventy decibel, jumped onto her seat and stood there trembling. All in the compartment stared at her as her agitated breathing slowed down and she sat back down, clutching a hand to her heart.

"Oh, thank God," she sighed. "For a horrible second I thought it was that mouse again."

The compartment exploded with giggles and Hermione rolled her eyes. The comment stung, but she'd be damned if she'd let it show. She knew very well that her teeth were nowadays perfectly straight and normal and that they indeed looked considerably better than Pansy's own. But the taunt raked up memories she spent her days trying to forget: memories of the time at Hogwarts before she got to know Ron and Harry. The time when she was sneered at for her looks and for being good at school, the time when she had no one to turn to, the loneliness. They had all despised her… especially Ron… and it was something she was _not_ happy over being reminded of.

"You know, that could be quite funny if I hadn't heard it twice a week for about three and a half years," she said, with a sarcastic smile that showed off her now perfect teeth nicely. "Don't you have anything new to come with?"

"Can we help you?" asked Pansy sweetly, ignoring the question.

"I want to talk to you," said Hermione, turning to the girl she'd seen earlier, who was sitting right next to the window, a sneer on her face.

"Talk," she answered with a haughty stare. There was none of the wild animal's fear in her now, but some of the wolf still lingered in her eyes – something proud and defiant.

"Firstly, what's your name?" asked Hermione just for something to say, feeling a bit unnerved by the stare of those eyes. _I was wrong_, she thought, _her eyes aren't dark… they're yellow… I didn't even know you could have eyes of that colour._ "And what were you doing down our end? Did you want to ask something? I don't know why, but it looked like you did."

"You're right, I did," the girl answered in an off-hand sort of voice. "I wanted to know how you got through the door to your compartment with those swollen heads of yours still stuck on your shoulders."

Once more laughter filled the small space. Hermione could see Millicent Bulstrode guffawing along, while still trying to work out the joke, and grit her teeth. She told herself off for believing anyone in this gang could ever have anything serious to say to her. She felt suddenly weary.

"Oh yeah," the girl added with a smirk to her friends, "my name's Rachel, Rachel Nott. I think that takes care of all the questions? Or did you want to ask me something else?"

Driven by a sudden impulse, Hermione answered with the truth.

"Yeah, I did. I wanted to ask how you're feeling. If you're OK." The laughter died away instantly and she saw Rachel's sneer falter. She felt a sudden, unexplainable sense of triumph. Then she realized what she had just done. She had been honest with a gang of Slytherin girls. Baaad move.

"Of course, that was a stupid question," she said hastily, her tone cold. "You look fine, as Slytherins go."

Hermione turned on her heel, but hesitated with her hand on the door handle. She turned back slowly, drawing her wand from the pocket of her jeans and grinning broadly.

"Hey Pansy?" she said. "Just for a point of interest, did you know a mouse's heart beats 150 times per minute?" Without waiting for an answer she raised her wand and said two words: "Arrius Souris".

The screams of Pansy and her friends followed her through two carriages, as they fought to escape the crawling mass of mice covering the floor, their seats and their clothes. Pocketing her wand with a satisfied smile, Hermione waltzed down the corridor, humming happily to herself.

……………………………………………

Hello! Been a while since I showed up here, so I thought I'd do that now – with A NEW STORY. (Cool huh.) Actually, this is something I've been working on for a long time, and the only reason I haven't put it before is that… uh… I, er, haven't dared. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to make it work.

But then I realized that in about a month, the sixth Harry Potter book is going to come out and then everything I've written in this fic (which is taking place in Harry, Ron and Hermione's sixth year, bless them) will be proven very wrong.

In other words, my fic would be kind of pointless. (It might be pretty pointless even now but…)

So here it is:) See you again in the next chapter…


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

"First years, you go over there," said Hermione to two little girls who looked like they were sisters. They looked absolutely terrified, and Hermione had to admit as she gazed up into the black sky that she didn't blame them. It was a storm to rival the one two years ago, when she started her fourth year.

One of the girls gave a small squeak and pointed at a figure by the shore of the lake who looked as large as a troll and twice as dangerous.

"Hagrid's really nice," Hermione said kindly to reassure them, as the person in question lifted a boat with his bare hands and tossed it into the lake. The girls looked at her sceptically.

"Don't judge by his looks," she went on with a smile. "He's a right angel and he'll take good care of you. Now, I know it might not be the ideal night for sailing, but think of how nice it'll be to get inside to the feast afterwards! I'll see you there. Hope you're in Gryffindor, that's my house. Good luck!"

The girls looked a bit heartened as they set off, hand in hand, towards Hagrid who was shouting his usual "Firs' years… firs' years…" Hermione waved at him and started walking towards the carriages which she now knew were pulled by Thestrals, even if she couldn't see them, turning the collar of her cloak up against the wind. Hopefully Ron and Harry had found a nice and warm carriage so they could…

Before she could finish the thought a hand grabbed her arm and she was yanked forcefully into the nearest carriage.

"Take it easy Ron, I'm not some trunk of luggage," she said huffily, straightening her robes and shaking the water out of her hair. "God, I'm absolutely _soaked_, had to take care of some – "

"It's me, Brainy," hissed a female voice. Hermione froze in the act of combing through her ponytail.

"Ex-_cuse _me?" she said.

"Rachel Nott. Where's the freaking lights? Wait a minute…" There was a pause, punctured by sounds of rummaging, and then the carriage was lit up by the light of a small fairy perched on Rachel's hand, jabbering away in its own language with a strange sing-song voice.

"You can conjure fairies?" Hermione asked, astonished and forgetting for a second who she was talking to.

"What are you, stupid?" asked Rachel. "That's Seventh Year magic or something. I keep a few in a box for journeys, it's really useful if you haven't got any light. (OK for Lumos, but it doesn't get you far...)" She paused for a second, and then she almost smiled. "And they're really pretty."

Hermione nodded. She had little respect for the unintelligent creatures, but there was no getting round that they were very cute.

"Anyway," said Rachel, and the near-smile disappeared from her face to make way for a sulky expression, "I wanted to speak to you. What the hell were you on about, asking me how I _feel_? Who've you been speaking to? Or did you just want to make me look stupid? 'Cos congratulations in that case, you just earned yourself full marks."

"No!" Hermione exclaimed, feeling rather irritated. "You look sick, no offence, you're all pale with these dark shadows under her eyes and you look really skinny so I just worried! Excuse me for caring!"

Rachel stared at her for a long while, until she felt distinctly uncomfortable. Then the Slytherinsnorted andlooked away, propping up her elbow on the small windowsill and resting her chin in her hand. Her other hand rested against her leg, and Hermione noticed several long, faint lines on the back of it, like old scars.

"_Are_ you really alri– "

"Shut up!" Rachel turned back towards her, furious. "Don't ever ask me again! Got it!"

"OK..." Hermione realized that she had shrunk back before Rachels outburst, and sat up straight again. The other girl just turned away however, looking out of the window. Hermione was starting to become really irritated. Well, if she didn't want her to care, why had Rachel come to Hermione in the first place? She was just about to say something to the effect when Rachel spoke again, quietly and hesitantly.

"Someone… told me to go to you."

"Huh? What? Why?" asked Hermione, completely nonplussed. "Who was it?"

"They said you'd know what I should do…" Rachel went on as if she hadn't heard. "And that I could talk to you… that you'd understand… especially Harry Potter. But I don't like him." Rachel scowled darkly as she looked back at Hermione. "He has no respect."

"Well…" Hermione wasn't sure of what to say. She wanted to defend her friend, but she also didn't want to say anything that might upset Rachel. "He's been through a lot… it hasn't been easy…"

She knew immediately that she had said the wrong thing. Rachel's hesitant manner disappeared and the arrogant look came back to her face.

"Oh no, of course," she snapped. "We all know about the tragic hero and his struggles."

She caught the fairy – which had been floating in front of the window for a while, making threatening gestures at its own reflection – in her hand and stuffed it brusquely into its case again, then looked out of the window.

"We're here," she said, and without another word she leapt out of the carriage and ran to join Malfoy and Blaise Zabini. Hermione, who hadn't even noticed that the carriages had been moving, stepped out slowly and went to search for her friends, thinking about the strange conversation. So Rachel had wanted their help? And with what? Who on earth had sent her to them?

* * *

"Where did you go?" asked Ron as they found each other in the Entrance Hall. "We looked for you for ages but you just disappeared."

"I – " Hermione hesitated. Somehow she didn't think it was worthwhile to mention the conversation with Rachel to her friends. "I had to take care of a couple of new girls, they were scared to death. I don't remember us being that frightened when we first started at Hogwarts."

"Oh, I don't know," said Ron, with a meaningful glance at Harry. "I know someone who was pretty damn close to peeing his pants…"

"Yeah, and like you weren't…"

Chatting happily about their first time at Hogwarts, the three friends made their way into the Great Hall and over to the Gryffindor table, where they were hailed by some classmates.

"Ron! Just the man I wanted to speak to," grinned Dean Thomas, pulling Ron down to sit next to him. "Have you seen my _One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_? I think I must have left it at your house. I asked Ginny and she hasn't seen it, but I thought since I was sleeping in your room…"

Hermione suppressed a giggle as she saw the stony expression on Ron's face. His unwillingness to accept that his sister could have a love life too – admittedly with one of his own classmates, but still – was almost comical. Hermione knew Ginny didn't find it one bit funny though and could understand her – Ron had subjected Dean to a rather harsh round of questioning on his first night in the Burrow, which Hermione thought was taking it a bit far. Especially the part about whether or not Dean intended to molest her in any way, honestly.

"D'you think the Hat will elaborate as much this year?" asked Harry.

Hermione shrugged. "It got its point across last year, I think. But you never know. Here it comes, let's see, shall we?"

Professor McGonagall walked briskly into the hall, carrying the hat and stool and leading the First-years. Hermione was relieved to see that the Stunners that had briefly landed her in hospital didn't seem to have caused any permanent damage. In fact, several of the new boys and girls were almost running to keep up with her.

Hermione caught sight of the two sisters, still holding each other's hands, and wondered what House they'd be sorted into. Maybe not Gryffindor after all – bravery didn't seem to be one of their virtues. Ravenclaw? Or Hufflepuff? Which one would it be? Not Slytherin in any case, they seemed much too sweet for that.

On the other hand… since when where Slytherins necessarily _bad_ people? The thought hit Hermione suddenly, like thoughts always did. She realized that although she had been taught that Slytherins were evil and twisted since she first started at Hogwarts, the logic in Sorting all the bad guys into one house suddenly seemed very lousy. And as for the idea that one quarter of the eleven-year-olds who came to Hogwarts were evil people, it was just ludicrous. So what was the truth?

_"...So bang the drum and blow the horn_

_For witch and wizard young and cool_

_From evening late to early morn_

_They'll study here at Hogwarts school!"_

Hermione came back to herself just as the Hat sang out the last few lines of its song. The Hall erupted into laughter and applause – especially loud and enthusiastic among the sixth years, who remembered studying like that only a few short months ago... and knew it'd be over one a half year before they'd had to do that again.

"Just the normal song, after all," Harry said easily, clapping along with the rest.

"Uh-huh," said Hermione absent-mindedly, cursing herself for not paying attention.

"I know that look," Ron smiled, pulling her ponytail lightly. "You've been thinking about something again. You know, when you're thinking hard about something your eyes go out of focus like this…" His face assumed a dreamy, lost expression and she stuck out her tongue at him.

"What were you thinking about?" Ron asked, his face returning to normal. "How to achieve world peace and the freedom of house-elves?"

"I was thinking about how nice your head would look on my wall," she retorted. "Shut up, I want to watch the Sorting."

Just then the table started to applaud again and she looked up quickly to see what had happened. One of the sisters had just been sorted, and as she pulled the Hat off her head and stepped forward, Hermione waved and moved over to make a space for her. The girl ran down the table towards her, looking grateful.

"Aniki, Sarah" read McGonagall and Hermione glanced up again as the other sister walked over to the chair and sat down, putting the Hat on her head.

"Did it take a long time Sorting you?" she asked the first sister, who had just sat down beside her.

"Yeah, a while," said the girl, her eyes fixed on her twin, who seemed to be taking her time too.

"SLYTHERIN!" called the Hat finally, and Sarah pulled it off and walked over to join the table on the other side of the Hall. Her sister's face fell.

"Aw, I was hoping we'd be in the same house," she said, looking disappointed, then turned to Hermione. "But we have classes with the other houses, don't we? So I'll be able to see her anyway?"

"Er… yes…" Hermione answered, feeling shocked. One twin in Gryffindor, one in Slytherin! They'd be enemies from now on. But how was that possible when they so obviously liked and depended upon one another? She could see other people around the Hall muttering to their friends, too. That two twins had been sorted into the rivalling houses had never happened before. Well, except for that time with Cain and Abel she'd read about, but that had been a nasty story...

"What's your name, by the way?" she asked, putting the thought away in her head and locking it up, to take it out and examine it later.

"Christine," said the girl, once more looking up at the Sorting Hat. "What's the difference between the houses?"

"Well…" Hermione hesitated. "Like it said, it's all down to what abilities and stuff you have… Like if you're really smart, you get put in Ravenclaw… Or if you work hard, you go to Hufflepuff…"

"Bit boring," said Christine.

"And then in Gryffindor you – what?" said Hermione, as she realized what the younger girl had just said. "What was that about boring?" Christine looked up at her innocently.

"Then you're only with the same kind of people all the time, aren't you?"

* * *

So sorry for the delay... I swear my computer has a private vendetta against me.

Well, I don't like him either, so there.

Aaargh! (Runs away as the computer starts ejecting CD's at her)

...Oh, and thank you for the reviews. :)


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

"Nooooo! Did he really!" squealed Lavender, putting her hands to her mouth and gasping dramatically. "I can't believe he actually _did _that! That's soooo romantic… Can you _believe_ it, Hermione!"

"Fascinating," said Hermione, who had no idea what the other girl was talking about.

"Yeah, so then I said, _well, I don't know about you, but I could do with a kiss right now_," said Parvati, and she and Lavender practically exploded with giggles. Hermione rolled her eyes and opened her trunk.

The first thing she saw was the jumper Ron had bought for her after they went to one of the Chudley Cannons' games – large, orange and itchy. _"That's great, it'll match your cat,"_ he had said, and Crookshanks forgive her, she had laughed. He was so funny when he wanted to, the dear Ron. Pulling the jumper out of her trunk she held it close to her face, breathing in its scent – cat and quidditch games... and Ron. Darling Ron.

"Oooooooooh."

Hermione turned, frowning, to see Parvati and Lavender standing with their hands pressed against their cheeks, contriving to look starry-eyed. "What?" she asked.

"That's so cute!" squealed Lavender, making Hermione wince slightly. "You've started liking Chudley Cannons because Ron does! Aw, that's so sweet!"

"Tell you the truth, for so long we thought you were going to go for Harry instead," Parvati cut in. "I mean, what with the tragic hero thing he's got going he's starting to look not so bad after all! And to think I just dumped him once. When you look at him closely you see he's got a kind of charm, after all..."

_No, when you look at him closely you see he's an adolescent idiot with shorter fuse than Fred and George's Two-second Buster _(**"Just toss and run!"**, thought Hermione sourly. Out loud she said, "I don't _like_ Chudley Cannons. I don't think I could ever like a team whose Seeker is so clueless he seizes the Quaffle and shouts 'I've got the Snitch! I've got the Snitch!' "

"Still, you've got the jumper," said Lavender slyly. "I bet it's just 'cos _Ron_ bought it for you or something, right?"

"Yeah, that's right," said Hermione, matter-of-factly, then dropped the jumper and clapped her hands over her ears as the two girls screamed with delight.

"She admitted it!"

"That's soooo cute!"

"I said it from, like, year one! They were so destined to be together!"

"Hermione, can I tell Seamus!"

"Are you going out?"

"You are, aren't you!"

"Yeah, Ron's my boyfriend since about four months back," said Hermione, and quickly pressed her hands over her ears again.

"That's so totally awesome!"

"Now we're two Gryffindor couples in the same year!"

"Wow! You can go on double dates!"

"Parvati, you'll have to get together with Harry, that'd make it _three_!"

"That'd be _the sweetest_!"

_That'd be a nightmare_, thought Hermione, wondering if she could scrounge some old earmuffs from professor Sprout. With the way the noise level seemed to be set to in this dorm, she doubted that she'd outlive the year. She'd asked professor McGonagall once, in year four, if she couldn't move out and share a dorm with Harry and Ron instead. The _look_ the professor had given her had been more than answer enough.

"Look, didn't you... I mean, Ron and I have been together for quite a long while now. Didn't you know?" Hermione looked from one girl to the other. She had thought it was obvious.

"Well, we've _known_ since four years back," said Parvati, with what she probably thought was a conspirational wink. "But you haven't really made it official, have you?"

"Oh." Hermione suddenly realized that she had no idea how Ron felt about this. Maybe he'd prefer it if they didn't tell everyone yet? "Um... actually, we'd like to wait for a while longer before we _do_ make it official," she said. "Would you mind keeping it quiet?"

"No, not at all!"

"You can trust us."

"Won't say a word."

"Silent as the grave!"

_And that_, reflected Hermione, _means it'll be all over the school in three hours. Oh well._

"Ew, have you ever been in a grave?"

"No!"

"Cause it's really disgusting."

"And what have _you_ been doing these summer holidays, if I may ask!"

"You really want to know?"

"Ooh, tell me!"

As she unpacked and made her bed – she had gone to the house elves and kindly but firmly asked them to leave her bed and let her do her own chores... because you had to start somewhere – Hermione reflected over what the girl Christine had said. _"Then you're only with the same kind of people all the time, aren't you?"_ She had a point there, she sure had. And at the moment, Hermione would have given anything to share a dorm with any Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw or even Slytherin instead.

…………………………………

"Slept well?" grinned Ron the next morning at the breakfast table. Hermione groaned, making both her friends laugh. She then sat up straighter, summoned the jam jar from right under Parvati's nose (she got some satisfaction from that), and glared at them. Harry clutched his hands to his chest, pretending to be scared stiff.

"Ooh, we know she's angry now," he said, in a silly, hushed-up voice. "She only breaks rules when she's totally pissed off."

"Honey," said Ron disapprovingly, "I might have to tell McGonagall to take some points from Gryffindor for you using magic outside lessons. _What_ a bad example you set. And you a prefect, too."

"Whoa, she's really steaming now."

"Maybe if we tease her a bit more we can get her to hex Snape under the table, you wanna try it?"

Hermione picked up her knife and pointed to them each in turn. "Shut up or I'll transfigure you both into cockroaches. And then I'll give you to Malfoy and tell him to feed you to his pet snake." That got a reaction, at least. Both Harry and Ron gasped, looking horrified.

"Hermione!"

"That's going a bit too far, isn't it?"

"You'd actually _let_ Malfoy _touch_ us?"

Hermione let her head fall forward and hit the table as the two boys laughed and gave each other a high five over the table. Gods, they were unbearable this morning. Almost like Fred and George... On the other hand, it was nice to see Harry looking happy again. He changed so much when he arrived at Hogwarts. She hadn't realized until this year how much Harry actually needed to be here. It brought out the best in him.

_He must really hate that Muggle family of his more than anything in the world..._ she thought.

"Hey, what are we doing today?" asked Dean's cheerful voice, cutting through the other boys' yammer. Hermione raised her head from the table as he sat down beside them, and dove into her bag for her schedule to answer his question.

"Transfiguration first thing, lovely lovely..." She ran her finger down the timetable, frowning occasionally. "Then it's a short Care of Magical Creatures, lunch and then Arithmancy, Dean... I think you have a free period there, Harry and Ron... and then my day is over but you three still have Divination."

"Oh no we don't," said Harry and Ron.

"Hm?"

"I'm quitting," said Harry, while Ron nodded fervently at his side. "One more tea leaf and I'll pick up an axe and kill someone, and then my future will be very easy to read indeed. Life in a padded Azkaban cell."

Ron frowned. "Do they have padded cells in Azkaban?"

"Shut up, you're ruining my dramatic moment."

"And we don't do tea leaves anymore, not since we got Firenze instead."

"Great, now the whole speech is ruined. Thanks a heap, man."

"I think you're already loony."

"How about you, Dean?" asked Hermione, pointedly ignoring the other two. "You're not going to ditch the Divination too?"

"Actually..." Dean blushed. "I, um, I think it's pretty cool sometimes. And I'm not too bad at it, for some reason..."

"He means he did a perfect OWL and is probably a Seer," said Ginny, coming up to them and sliding her arms around his neck. "You are much to modest, Dean. You need to believe in yourself more, I don't know how many times I've said."

"Why, when you do it so well for me?" asked Dean, smiling up at her and receiving a kiss in reward. On the other side of the table, Ron gagged.

…………………………………

Hello! Sorry for the long break until this update. I haven't had access to the computer for a couple of weeks – and it will be a week or two until the next time I get hold of it, too. (Sorry!)

In other news, I've snapped a ligament in my ankle. Pity me.

Thank you reviewers!


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

"I think I can guess what you were all thinking when you arrived with the train yesterday," said professor McGonagall, gazing out over the class with her usual stern expression. "Something along the lines of 'How nice it will be to have a year of easy studying before we start preparing for our NEWTS!' " Hermione blushed as Ron nudged her, feeling as if professor McGonagall could see straight into her head. "This is _wrong_. We have a lot to do this year. You are all very behind on the Animation spells – turning dead matter into living. I recall your Third year's examinations, turning a kettle into a tortoise – we were up to here in steaming tortoises, if I remember correctly. Not to mention some of the things we had to endure during the OWLS – mushrooms and flamingos and whatnot. This has all around been your greatest weakness, and that goes for all of you – yes, even miss Granger. And that's why – but I haven't said anything yet!" she exclaimed, as the class groaned to a man.

"Permission to speak, professor?" asked Seamus, putting his hand in the air. "Were you by any chance going to say 'And that's why we're going to have extra homework on Animation spells'?"

McGonagall allowed herself a smile, fleeting but amused. "It seems you know me well by now. Well, I _was_ going to say that we are waiting with the Animation spells until we have looked deeper into their opposite, the process of turning living matter into dead. But of course, if you think that's a bad idea..." The rest of her words were drowned in the loud cheer from the class. McGonagall nodded, eyes showing a beady sparkle of amusement.

"I'll take that as a 'no', then," she continued. "_However_, this does _not_ mean that I will tolerate you slacking off. I expect you to work hard, and work much. You have two very trying years in front of you, two years in which you will have to prove your skill as witches or wizards..." And from there it was a normal Transfiguration lesson. Normal, at least, until they had put away their newly transfigured cushions (Neville's still with obvious feline characteristics, like trying to scratch anyone who came too close and meowing) and were getting ready to leave.

"Potter! To me, please." McGonagall was sitting by her desk, beckoning for him to come forward. Perplexed, Harry looked at his friends.

"What have I done now?"

"Oh come on, she's not going to bite you," sighed Hermione, grabbing his sleeve and walking up to their professor, who then merely handed Harry a piece of paper. On it was written a date and a time. He looked at it in bewilderment.

"What is this, professor?"

"The time for your first additional Potions lesson. I expect you to be on time."

"But, professor!" Harry looked ready to explode. "I can't – I mean, I've had Occlumency sessions with Sn– with professor Snape all summer, we'll just _kill_ each – "

"I'm aware of the enmity between you and professor Snape," interrupted McGonagall, "and believe me, normally I would not let that stand as an excuse. But if you recall, I made a promise this spring to tutor you in whatever you needed and I intend to keep that promise. And it seems to me that in this case you could do with a change of teacher, just to get a new... perspective on things. Professor Snape has agreed to accept you into his class if you improve over the next month. You did have an 'E' on your OWL, God knows how you managed, so you should just have to improve the practical part, which I've noticed is the one you have most trouble with. I have to prepare you, however, that if you do get accepted you will have to work extremely hard to prove your worth, since you'll be there on a grant, and you should only do this if you are still dead set on becoming an Auror."

"Well..." Harry had suddenly deflated. "Yes, of course." He seemed to come to his senses again, and looked up at McGonagall with a true, happy smile. "Thank you! Thank you so much."

"You're welcome, Potter." Professor McGonagall's strict expression softened for a moment as she looked at him. "Glad to see you're looking better."

"Man, I want to be teacher's pet too," grumbled Ron good-naturedly as they left the classroom. "And what have you been doing to get promises like that? I could do with some extra counselling too, I barely scraped an A in Potions... 'Course I won't be taking it, but still..."

"She promised to help me become an Auror no matter what when I had Career Advice, but I thought it was just to get back at Umbridge," Harry explained, still wearing a goofy grin. "Man, she is _the best_! I _love_ Minerva McGonagall!"

"Well, she has 'er good points, that's true," rumbled a voice behind them, "and of course there's a certain charm about 'er, but yeh might find the age difference a problem."

They all spun around (Harry red-faced) to be greeted by Hagrid, his beady eyes twinkling.

"Hagrid!" exclaimed Hermione happily. "You were allowed to come back!"

"Couldn't well keep me out, could they?" grinned Hagrid. "Not when I have so much teh show yeh. Ready fer yer first lesson?" He looked expectantly at them, oblivious to the apprehensive glances the three students shared.

"Depends on what we're doing," said Hermione finally, cautiously. Hagrid beamed.

"Somethin' really interestin', I can promise yeh that. Well come on, I can't be late fer my first lesson! Besides, they'll be gettin' restless by now." He led the way, large and cheerful, and they followed slowly, hoping against hope that Hagrid had, this time, chosen something "interesting" that was at least non-lethal.

"_Something really interesting,"_ muttered Ron quietly. "Now why doesn't that excite me?"

…………………………………

"My name is Remus Lupin and I am a werewolf."

Hermione stared. Ron stared. Harry stared. Whatever they had expected for their first Care of Magical Creatures lesson, it sure wasn't this. The rest of their class looked just as astonished – even Malfoy didn't seem to be able to come up with a snide remark. Hagrid, meanwhile, was grinning from ear to ear (this was quite a distance), and Lupin looked his normal mild, polite self.

"I guess you are feeling very surprised about this," he smiled, sitting down on a conveniently placed bench and motioning for them to do the same. Hagrid had transformed the patch by his cottage into a kind of classroom, with benches standing in a rough circle and a low table in the middle. Hermione, Ron and Harry sat down, and others followed their example, some rather hesitantly. "I understand you. And I also understand if some of you may be feeling uncomfortable. If so, I won't mind if you leave. I have no doubt that this would be a most constructive lesson for you as well, but I will not force you to participate. So if you want to leave, please do so now."

There was some embarrassed squirming until Neville, eyes cast down, turned and walked back towards the school buildings. Parvati followed, and also one Slytherin boy and two of Pansy Parkinson's friends. None of them said anything, although one of the last mentioned girls threw Lupin a rather dirty look before she left. Harry was looking black, and Hermione had to step on his foot and frown sternly at him before he stopped glaring after Neville and Parvati.

"Well then." Lupin gazed around the circle, his eyes coming to rest on Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle, who had remained standing behind the benches. He raised his eyebrows. "You don't want to join us?"

"I think I'll stand, thanks," sneered Malfoy, and this time Ron actually had to grab Harry's arm to hinder him from jumping at Malfoy right there.

"Alright." Lupin, on the other hand, did not seem in the least bit bothered. "I'll start by telling you the reason I am here now. You all know quite well that I resigned from the school when it became known that I am a werewolf. This is because being a werewolf today is not something accepted by the wizarding community, and there are not many parents who would feel completely secure if I was teaching you. However, Professor Dumbledore has allowed me back for a short period of time, to teach you about me and my likes. About werewolves. Because the Headmaster feels, you understand, that in these times it is important to recognize all of the Dark creatures and know how to protect yourselves from them." He took a deep breath, looking around the circle at each of their faces in turn. Some met his gaze, but some looked away, and out of those a few looked distinctly uncomfortable.

"So." Lupin smiled again, a disarming smile. "This first lesson I'll tell you some basic facts about werewolves that you need to know. Next lesson we'll go through the theory of recognizing werewolves, and at the next full moon you'll be trying it practically. You will not, of course, come near me, but you will from a distance learn to discern between me and mundane wolves. You will have Hagrid with you and I regularly drink the Wolfsbane Potion which lets me keep my mind during transformation, so you will be perfectly safe. Later on we'll be moving on to protection and banishment."

"Wait a minute." Malfoy was staring at Lupin with an incredulous smile on his face. "Banishment? You're saying you'll teach us how to _kill_ you?"

"Yes," said Lupin calmly. "Werewolves are counted to the Dark creatures, and for your magical education to be complete you need to know protection against _all_ of the Dark arts. Of course, werewolves _are_ dangerous when we don't take the Wolfsbane Potion or other precautions. And speaking from a personal point of view, which most werewolves share with me – if the situation should arise that I was about to bite anyone," a look of pain passed quickly across his face, "I would rather have you kill me than let that happen."

Malfoy still smirked, but he didn't reply to what Lupin had said, merely stepped over the benches and sat down. Crabbe and Goyle followed suit immediately. Lupin smiled, and looked out over the class.

"The first thing you should know about werewolves," he said, and now he had the teacher's voice they all remembered so well, "is that we are ordinary people. There are many myths about us being savage or bloodthirsty even as humans, but I can assure you that this is not the case." There was some nervous laughter – it was hard to imagine anyone less bloodthirsty than Remus Lupin. "As you can see, I have no outstanding physical features that mark me as a werewolf either – my ears are perfectly rounded, my eyebrows are separate and I don't have fangs or excessive facial hair." As he spoke, Lupin pointed to the body part he was talking about, making some people giggle despite themselves. Pansy snorted with laughter as he opened his mouth to reveal straight, blunt teeth and nudged her friend, who did not laugh in reply. It was Rachel Nott, Hermione realized, and she was glaring angrily at Lupin.

_Well, just leave if you don't like it!_ thought Hermione, feeling irritated at the girl's open hostility.

"So what you mean is, anyone we know could actually be a werewolf in disguise?" asked Malfoy, looking meaningfully at Crabbe and Goyle.

"Yes," Lupin replied. "Although werewolves are not very common on the Brittish Isles. Only one in maybe three or four hundred, I'd say, and out of those most are Muggles who do not know how to protect themselves."

"I still think we have one in the group," smirked Malfoy. Hermione knew that smirk – she tensed up, and so did Ron, because they both knew that if Malfoy said just one word wrong now Harry would fly at him. "And I think it is... Weasley." His eyes glinted maliciously as he looked at Harry, and Hermione groaned inwardly. This was Malfoy's ultimate weapon: insult Harry's friends. She reached for her wand, seeing that Harry was about to explode.

"With that hair? Never. A werefox, possibly."

The entire class halted, and gaped. For the one who had spoken was none other than Blaise Zabini, who said approximately seven words per month in class. He was sitting a bit apart from all the others, and had _of course_ grabbed the bench closest to Hagrid's hut, which meant that he had something to lean against. Blaise _always_ leaned, gracefully yet sexily. As it was now he didn't even seem to notice everybody's eyes on him, but sat as he always did, with a hat pulled down over his eyes, appearing to be asleep.

"Thank you for the contribution, Mr Zabini," said Lupin. "Take off your hat in class please." To everybody's astonishment, Blaise obliged. Pansy giggled suddenly, putting her hand over her mouth to hide it, and Ron looked as if he was on the verge of asking whether the other boy was sick. But Hermione was merely relieved to notice that the double shock of Blaise speaking _and_ obeying a teacher had been enough to distract Harry and Malfoy from each other.

"I notice that you are using the word werewolf as if it is something ugly, a swearword almost, Mr Malfoy." Lupin put no accusation into his words, yet Malfoy glared at him as if he had been shouted at. "That is not uncommon and I won't condemn you for it. Yet that is what I'm trying to change. I would like to make you realize that we are no worse than other people. But of course, I understand that this is hard to accept."

"'Course it is, if your skull is six inches thick," said Harry, not bothering to keep his voice low. Lupin frowned.

"Watch your language, Mr Potter. Otherwise I will be forced to subtract points from your house, and I find that most unpleasant." Harry glared at his teacher in outrage, but Hermione felt that Lupin was completely right. This was something she had always liked about him – the way he was completely unbiased as a teacher, no matter what his personal opinion or preference was. And of course, he was one of the bravest people she knew. Walking back into a school you've left once before and starting to teach amongst kids who knew your deepest, darkest secret was not something everybody would be able to do.

"Lupin is _so_ cool," she whispered quietly to Ron, who nodded, grinning.

"Incidentally, Miss Granger, although we don't retain anything of the wolf in our human shape, my hearing is still very acute." Lupin smiled briefly at her. "So don't whisper in my class please."

…………………………………

Hi ho, I'm still on crutches, still bitter. It's raining today, too. (SULK.)

But thank you thank you for reviewing! Makes me happy.

So, anyway, tonight is the moment of truth! (i.e. the release of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.) So when you read this you might already have found out just how far off the mark I am. The tension is unbearable. :P

Ciao!


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

"He's just about the saddest little fuck ever put on this planet!" Harry raged once out of the lesson and back on his favourite subject: Malfoy's supreme bastard-ness. "I can't believe Lupin let him get away with shit like that! And then he tells _me_ off!"

"Relax, Harry," said Ron calmly, well aware that it was not the right moment to say that he, too, thought Harry had earned the reprimand. Right now, all you could do was try to calm Harry down a little. "It's OK. You know I don't listen to a word the twit says."

"THAT'S NOT THE FUCKING POINT!" Harry yelled, red-faced with anger. "It was the way he used the word werewolf, like it was a dirty word or something! There's nothing wrong with Lupin!"

"We know, Harry," said Hermione soothingly, wondering why Harry always seemed to think that he was the only one who knew Lupin, or Sirius, or whoever was the subject of conversation at the moment. "We both know Lupin as well as you do. But Malfoy is just an idiot. Don't let him get to you. It's just Malfoy being a prat, as usual." Far from reassuring Harry, however, this only seemed to fuel his anger.

"It's not just about Malfoy!" he exclaimed, turning on both of them. "Neville and Parvati just walked out on him! Half the people in our class didn't meet his eyes! They all think he's some kind of monster! And I mean what the hell is Neville's _problem_! He had Lupin for Defence Against the Dark Arts for a year and had no trouble with him! And suddenly just because it turns out he's a werewolf, now Neville's all like _Ooh, I can't be in his class..._"

"Damn it, Harry, he's scared!" Ron yelled, making his friend stop in shock. Hermione bit her lip, fearing for the worst. Ron had been keeping all his frustration over Harry's behaviour bottled up lately, and she was afraid he might really blow up this time. "Is that so damn hard to get through your head? Werewolves are dangerous, there's nothing else to it! Everyone's not comfortable with that, OK? There's practically no education about werewolves because it's always been such a sensitive subject, so no one knows what it really means to be one. For Neville it's like being asked to attend a lesson with a tiger! I'd probably feel the same if I hadn't known Lupin! Fuck, Harry, just get that stick out of your ass and realize that not everybody can be as perfectly fucking brave as you!" He stopped, almost panting after his outburst. Harry, stunned into silence, simply stared at him for several long seconds. Then he turned on his heel and left them, stomping up towards the castle. Ron glared after him, but after a moment the anger left his expression and he turned a worried face on Hermione.

"Think I was too hard on him?"

"Tell you the truth, I think he deserved that," sighed Hermione, stepping up to Ron and wrapping her arms around his waist. "I just hope he isn't going to blow on Neville later..."

"He won't. I'll make sure of that." Ron ran his hands through her hair, smiling tiredly. "And to think that just this morning I was starting to believe he was actually getting over it."

"Yeah, me too." Hermione sighed again, deeply, leaning her head against him. "I'm starting to get really pissed off here, Ron. I'm just so tired of it all. The diplomacy, the soothing talks, the constant worrying that someone will say a word out of line... and the looking after him. I mean, just take this moment now – all I'm thinking about is that he'll probably skip lunch again. I'm turning into my mother..."

"Worse yet, you're turning into _my_ mother," grinned Ron, making her feel better. "Well, at least he hasn't cursed anyone yet. I wish I could say he'll calm down in a while, but I said that at midsummer too... anyway. We're back at Hogwarts now, and that's something to be happy about."

"Yay, we're back at school."

"Don't sound so sarcastic. You know you feel like a fish out of the water when you don't have homework and teachers all around you."

"You are such a bastard! Shut up!" Hermione bit his arm and scowled up at him playfully. "Is that any way to talk to your girlfriend?"

"You've _got_ to be kidding me."

Hermione and Ron sprang apart as quickly as if an electric charge had passed through them and turned to face Malfoy, who was standing a couple of metres away, with his arms crossed over his chest and an expression that was a curious mixture of astonishment, mockery and almost anger.

"You mean someone actually _wants _the rodent?" he said, grinning crookedly. "Sheez Weasley, kissing that thing must _really_ be a mouthful."

"You shut up right now," snarled Ron, reaching immediately for his wand. But he wasn't as fast as Hermione, who walked briskly up to Malfoy, raised her hand and slapped him so hard that his head snapped back.

"Fuck, that hurt!" she exclaimed, shaking her hand. Ron grinned. "Malfoy, you're not exactly in a position to call anyone rodent. Keep that in mind. And don't insult me again, or I will break my hand next time... Ron, let's go." She turned from the shocked Malfoy, who couldn't seem to find the words for even a single insult, and skipped up to her boyfriend, very obviously took his arm and steered them both away.

Once inside the school they started laughing so hard Professor Flitwick asked if Harry Potter had been practising Cheering Charms again.

………………………………

"Hey, Brainy." Hermione started as the voice spoke from the shadows, instantly on the alert. Two weeks had passed since she had slapped Malfoy, and she couldn't help being a bit nervous about retaliation. Not that Malfoy had ever hurt her physically before, but you never knew... However, it wasn't Malfoy or his cronies who stepped out from behind a statue – it was Rachel Nott.

"Rachel? What are you doing here?"

"I need your help." The words were said so quietly that for a moment, Hermione wasn't sure that she had heard correctly. Rachel didn't look too happy about it either; her eyes were angry and she was blushing. "There's this kid in our house, don't know if you know her... Sarah Aniki."

"Oh, one of the twins!" said Hermione happily. She had talked to the twin in her own house, Christine, several more times since the Welcome Feast and found her to be a smart kid. Also, since the girl was muggle-born like herself, Hermione had felt a kind of kinship with her, and had been happy to help her with any questions she had. She and her sister often walked together in the school, accompanying each other to classes that the Slytherins shared with the Gryffindors, and reluctantly parting company when they were due in different classes. It was strange to see two girls from the rivalling Houses being so close, but Hermione had grown used to it quickly.

"Yeah, well she's a bit upset." Rachel frowned. "A little dick called Grant Pucey said something about her being from a muggle family and now she's crying like crazy. She wants her sister." She paused and looked expectantly at Hermione, who felt that her part in all this had not entirely been made clear.

"And?" she asked.

"And, Brainy," Rachel continued, looking annoyed, "I need you to get her, don't I? Even if I could find the Gryffindor common room, I'd hardly be let in."

"But – "

"Look, I wouldn't be asking you if I had a choice!" Rachel snapped. "Just get the kid for me, OK? I'll be waiting here." She hesitated, then bit her lip and reluctantly said, "Please."

It was this more than anything else that convinced Hermione about how serious the other girl was. She hurried back to the common room, checking her watch to see how much more time until she had to stay inside the Gryffindor tower. It wasn't that late, so hopefully she'd have no trouble. She walked into the common room to find Harry and Ron engaged in an animated chess game (Harry was, not surprisingly, losing). They hardly seemed to notice her presence, a fact for which she was glad – then they wouldn't ask questions later. Just like in her earlier encounter with Rachel, she felt that it was something she should keep to herself.

Christine was sitting by the fireplace, laughing with some girls in her year, their homework forgotten by their side. "Christine?" said Hermione, making the other girl look up quickly and smile happily.

"Hi!" she said cheerily. "We've been talking about Professor Dumbledore. Do you have him in anything? He is so funny!"

"Yeah, but he doesn't teach," smiled Hermione, somewhat ruefully. She had been hoping that Dumbledore would take on the job of teaching the Defence Against the Dark Arts, but sadly that had not been so. Instead they had a young warlock called Marco Shivers – not exactly an inspiring last name, considering the subject he was teaching. But he had turned out to be good, very structured and orderly. And he smiled a lot.

"Could you come with me, Christine? I need you for something," Hermione continued, not wanting to discuss Sarah in front of the other girls. Thankfully, Christine didn't ask why, merely followed her out of the common room. Once out of earshot of others, Hermione explained what Rachel had told her.

"...so that's why she wanted you to come. She probably wants someone who your sister feels at ease with."

"Yeah, I guess." Christine nodded. "Can you come, too? I don't think I can find my way back to the common room alone."

Hermione had expected this and dreaded it. Of course she would have to say yes, but it would be awkward for her and she'd have to put up with the company of the Slytherins, whereof approximately seventy percent regularly spent time daydreaming about her sudden and painful death.

"Of course," she smiled.

…………………………………

"Sorry, no pets allowed in here," sneered Pansy Parkinson, blocking the entrance to the Slytherin Common Room. Hermione didn't answer but merely gave the other girl a very tired look. _You'd think that she could at least come up with one new joke…_

"I'm surprised they let you in every evening then, Pansy," snapped Rachel, unexpectedly coming to Hermione's aid. "Having a face like a dog's arse should naturally exclude you as well, shouldn't it?"

Pansy snorted derisively, but her eyes flicked with a hint of uncertainty from her house mate to Hermione and back again. Then she seemed to find her bearings again, and settled easily back into insult mode. "Started licking Gryffindor ass, have you?" she smirked, the look of unease changing subtly into calculation. "Chose the wrong one, though. If you wanted to get yourself up in the world you should have jumped into bed with Potter the Hero instead – no one likes Granger anyway. Or are you thinking she'll do your homework for you?"

"Merlin, how old are you?" Rachel sighed with obvious fatigue, seemingly not bothered in the slightest by Pansy's insinuations. "Brainy here is only with me because she's helping out with the kid. If you have a better plan to get her out of that room you are free to go ahead with it. Better not trust in your magical powers to do it though – we want this fixed before next week, after all. Now get your face out of mine. It's not very decorative."

Christine giggled.

"Go screw yourself, Rachel," said Pansy, but stood aside a little. "Alright, she goes in. But if she can't be of any help can I please practise Unforgivables on her?"

"Sure," said Rachel easily and added to Hermione in a not-quite-silent mutter, "It's unlikely you'd get more than a slight headache anyway."

As Hermione passed the disgruntled Slytherin girl (who was glaring at her with undisguised menace), she couldn't help wonder if her appearance alone had been enough to trigger such a storm of insults, or if this was just normal Slytherin niceties.

Then she realized that was House stereotyping and cursed at herself.

She stepped into the common room with the strongest feeling of dread she had experienced since she faced the Death Eaters in the Department of Mysteries. Expecting to see only hate, she hardly dared look at anyone. _How did this happen?_ she thought. _How could simple competition between two goddamn Houses develop into this enmity? Since when do kids have to be scared of their schoolmates? It's so damn wrong..._ However, some of those she looked at as they passed through the room didn't look hostile when they saw her and Christine, but rather... relieved?

"Hey, what's up with that boy?" she asked Rachel, nodding towards a little kid who was bawling in one corner of the room, comforted by an older boy. "Someone else who's upset?"

"Yeah, and rightly so." Rachel scowled. "That's Grant Pucey, the brat."

"What's happened to him?" asked Hermione in surprise. Rachel looked very deliberately away from her, and Hermione finally began to put two and two together. So maybe she wasn't always as clever as everybody said... "There's something you didn't tell me, right? What's Sarah done? Why didn't you tell me?" She grabbed Rachel's arm, but the other girl yanked herself out of her grasp.

"Look, Brainy," she snarled, turning towards Hermione and narrowing her eyes. "If I'd have told you that Grant Pucey was bodily picked up and slammed into a wall by something invisible but no less strong for that, then held there until he was nearly suffocating, what would you have done? You'd have said, "Tell a teacher". But we don't want to involve the teachers, OK? If this kid," she indicated Christine, who was skipping along a few metres in front of them, "can help out, then that's good. If we can't calm Sarah down even with her help, then maybe we'll go to Professor Snape. But if you say anything to anyone, there are lots of people who won't hesitate to make your life hell. Got it?" She didn't wait for an answer, but quickened her pace to catch up with Christine. Feeling upset and unwelcome, Hermione followed suit.

They stopped in front of a door and Christine turned to Rachel, frowning in concern. "This is Sarah's room, right? The other girls who live with her, are they there now?" When Rachel shook her head she smiled. "Good. I don't know how to unlock the door, can you help me?"

Rachel bit her lip, disappointment evident. "I was hoping you'd know," she muttered, and then turned to Hermione. "We tried the most. Blaise says it's some kind of curse. We tested most Upheavals, but nothing worked."

"What?" Hermione stared at her. "Who – wait, are you saying _Sarah_ performed this curse? To lock herself in? How is that even possible? That's strong magic!"

"We haven't done curses yet," said Christine, matter-of-factly.

"Can you get this door open?" Rachel hadn't taken her eyes away from Hermione. "Like I said, we really don't know what to do anymore."

"I – " Hermione hesitated. Well, since Christine didn't seem to have any plan, it was probably up to her. But what kind of girl was this Sarah? To react so strongly, to be so magically powerful... The door was protected by an unusually strong curse. What curse? And how could it be broken? They had been working with Upheavals quite a lot, but if none of those worked...

Well... there was one other way.

Possibly.

"What's your wand core?" she asked, turning to Rachel.

"Dragon heartstring," answered Rachel promptly. "Bought it in Romania."

"Can I borrow it?"

"What?" Rachel looked surprised and suspicious, seemingly reluctant to part with her wand. Not strange – the wand was something very personal, after all. After a few moments of hesitation however, she offered it up.

"Thank you." Hermione smiled, then closed her eyes, trying to recall the incantation she needed. "Requiescat Pacetim... um... Spiritus?" She bit her lip and added, "Finite Incantatem."

Nothing happened. Rachel, who had tensed up, breathed out in a sigh and snorted in derision. She opened her mouth to say something, but Christine reached out for the door handle and turned it, opening the door as naturally as if nothing had ever happened. She looked over her shoulder at Hermione and the stunned Rachel and smiled.

"Thanks for the help! I'll try to be quick." She grinned happily, stepped through the door and closed it behind her. Hermione breathed a deep sigh, thanking her lucky star that it had actually worked. Rachel was looking at the door with her mouth still open.

"You sure live up to your reputation." Hermione turned quickly, to see Blaise Zabini, without either hat or long cloak for once, standing by the wall. "Very clever," he said. "What did you use? We even asked Draco and not even he could get that door open."

"Well, it's because you said it had to be a curse," said Hermione, eager to explain. "I thought that then it had to be one of the Suicidal Curses, and with them you have to pacify the soul before you can finish the curse. The Requiescat Pacetim spell is just one way – it's a way to calm down someone who is very unhappy, that builds on companionship. To perform it you have to use another wand than your own, preferably one with a wand core that is not very similar, to symbolize cooperation. After that it was just a simple Finite Incantatem – the actual curse is not very strong, but it builds on the person's emotions. I'm surprised it worked through a closed door though. Usually, like the Cheering Charm, you have to be close to the person..."

"I asked for an explanation, not a lecture," Blaise interrupted, raising an eyebrow. Hermione angrily opened her mouth to answer, but then thought better of it and closed it again. Blaise raised his other eyebrow, too, but didn't comment. "Well, I didn't think I'd ever say this to you, but thanks. I hope your housemate can calm her sister down now. We didn't really know what to do until Rachel recalled Sarah had a sister."

"Why – " Hermione began.

"Why do we even care? Well, she's in our house, isn't she? If you found out one of the Firsties in your house was showing suicidal tendencies, would you just get on with your stuff and don't give a damn? Just because we happen to be Slytherins we're not inhuman, you know."

"That's not what I meant," muttered Hermione quietly.

"Yeah, whatever." Blaise snorted and turned to Rachel (she had closed her mouth by then). "Will you show them back or should I?"

"I will. I don't think you can get back to Gryffindor on your own, can you?" She looked at Hermione, who shook her head emphatically. It was one thing to find the way to and from the Slytherin common room with Harry and Ron – which they had done on occasion – but quite another to it on her own, in the dark, and with the staircases in an extremely vindictive mood. "I'll take you then. I'll be OK." This last sentence puzzled Hermione, until she realized it was said to Blaise, not to her. But what the hell... _"I'll be OK"_? Did they expect her to pull a wand and attack Rachel right there and then, or what? Sheez...

Ten minutes later the door opened and Christine stepped out. "She's sleeping now," she said quietly, and closed the door softly behind her. "Just leave her alone for a while and she'll feel better. She was pretty upset about what that boy said, but she won't do anything to him again. She just sort of lost control... that can happen sometimes. If it does again, just hug her. She likes hugs. If she's in danger of hurting anyone, don't hesitate to... what's it called... oh yeah, Body Bind her or anything like that – she won't be mad at you for it. And if you need me again, just send me word and I'll come as fast as I can." She smiled prettily at the two Slytherins. Blaise smiled back.

"Thanks, kid. Rachel here is going to guide you back now. Thanks for the help."

"You're welcome," said Christine seriously.

They walked back towards the Gryffindor part of the castle in silence – or at least Hermione and Rachel were for the most part silent, while Christine kept up the conversation for all three of them. They stopped near the entrance hall, Rachel fidgeting a little.

"From here you can make it yourselves. I've got to get back before I run out of time, too."

"Thank you for everything, Rachel!" grinned Christine, extending her hand. Rachel took it, smiling.

"I'm not about to die or anything, kid. _"Thank you for everything"_, sounds like the last line in some soppy movie. Sheez. And anyway... I'm the one who should be saying thanks. And," she stood up, "that includes you too, I guess." She looked balefully at Hermione, who was about to snap back when she realized the other girl was actually trying to thank her – although Hermione had never seen someone so awkward since Ron had asked her to a Chudley Cannons game back in their second year. (It had been a horribly embarrassing date and one they had both preferred to forget as quickly as possible. All considered, Hermione sometimes thought, it was pretty amazing that they had managed to become a couple at last.)

"You're welcome," she said lamely, feeling like an idiot. Rachel held her gaze for a few seconds, held it with those strange, yellow eyes, and then she looked away, out of the window close nearby.

"The moon is very beautiful tonight," she said suddenly and without warning. "But it's almost full."

And with that cryptic remark, Rachel Nott turned and walked away into the darkness.

…………………………………

That was a nice long chapter, right? Hope you liked it. Sorry for the long break though. It's because a) I haven't had access to a computer for a while and b) I sort of lost interest… a little… after reading the sixth Harry Potter book. My story feels drab in comparison.

But I fight bravely on!

My foot's a bit better.

Anyway.

Bye!


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

"So, class." Lupin looked around the circle of benches, taking in all of their faces. It was an unusually large group, because the Hufflepuffs and the Ravenclaws had joined them, too. That night they would all be watching Lupin as a werewolf. "I repeat to you now that you will be in no danger tonight. Both Hagrid and Professor Shivers will be aiding you. We will all be tagged with different numbers – by "we" I mean all the wolves – and you will write down which wolf you believe me to be. You may, of course, work together with your friends if you wish, but I shall demand a separate answer from each person. Now, shall we go over it again? Miss Patil, if you please – three physical signs that define the werewolf."

Parvati had returned to the class after two lessons. She, Hermione and Lavender had talked long about Lupin one night, and Parvati had finally decided to give him a try again – if nothing else to prove herself to Lavender who, contrary to her friend, found Lupin fascinating rather than daunting. Of course, Lavender didn't take Care of Magical Creatures anymore and wouldn't be having him anyway, but it still cheered Hermione to know that she didn't see Lupin differently. Much differently, at least.

Parvati cleared her throat nervously before speaking. "From the distance we'll keep, the three most noticeable signs are the rounder snout, the tufted tail and the ears' location," she said, glancing up briefly at Lupin to see if she had gotten it right. He smiled, and she looked away again.

"Excellent. Miss Parkinson, name something that distinguishes the werewolf by its movements."

"You walk with a more rolling gait, and hold your tail higher," Pansy answered the question. Her voice was lazy, and she put as much insult into the word "you" as she could possibly muster. It was not quite up to Malfoy's standards, but it was clear who had taught her. Harry glared at her, but did not say anything. He had been more quiet since Ron's outburst, quiet but brooding. Hermione was not sure that she liked the change, but as long as it kept him out of trouble, anything was good.

"Correct," said Lupin pleasantly. "Mr Corner, then... how can you tell a werewolf apart from mundane wolves by its voice?"

"The werewolf's voice is of a lower pitch than normal wolves," said Michael Corner. He was sitting next to Cho Chang, who had after appalling exams decided to retake sixth year and had since the start of school practically been glued to him. Hermione noticed that Harry was staring stubbornly in the other direction, trying to avoid seeing them, and grinned to herself. She felt guilty for it a moment later. But it was so funny, like in some corny teenage movie...

"However," Michael continued, "normal wolves vary in the pitch of their voice as well. The "higher" and "lower" pitch the book talks about is just the average of all wolves and werewolves respectively. Because of that, it is unsure whether it would be of any use to us."

"_Very_ good," smiled Lupin. "Take five points to Ravenclaw for showing a critical and analytical mind."

Hermione looked at Michael, feeling surprised. She had spotted the same thing, of course, but she hadn't expected anyone to bring it up. Then she saw the triumphant look Michael shot at Harry, and realized he was trying to put a claim on Cho: "See, Potter, I'm smarter and more worthy of her". How cute.

"Well, I'm glad to see you have all been paying attention!" said Lupin happily. "But I must warn you – knowing all the signs is not the same as being able to easily distinguish a werewolf. Don't be disappointed if you get it wrong. Other than that, I have nothing more for now. I'll see you all tonight! Or rather," he added when he realized that many people had paled at that, "you will see me. I'm not sure if I will be able to see you." He smiled disarmingly.

Unfortunately, Parvati confided to Hermione later, that just made her focus on his teeth instead.

The tower balcony was crowded, elbows shoving against elbows, toes being treaded on constantly. Everyone had sought a place as close to the banister as possible, all the better to see down into the grounds. Hagrid and Professor Shivers had taken them to a tower with a balcony close enough to the ground to afford a good view, although high enough to put even the most nervous students to ease.

"Quiet down now... hey you, get down from there, yeh wouldn't wanna fall now... quiet, I said. Won' summon them until yer quiet, all of yer, get it?" Once Hagrid had managed to silence the class, he put two fingers into his mouth and whistled loudly. The group of students held their breath in anticipation. Slowly, they became aware of a group of grey shadows, slipping out of the forbidden forest one by one and gathering around the meat that Hagrid had left out for them. An awed murmur spread through the class, and Blaise Zabini whistled softly.

"They're beautiful," said Parvati, disbelievingly.

Hermione spotted Lupin almost immediately. He was at the back of the group – a sign of his low status. When he took the Wolfsbane Potion he was no more than a human in wolf form – the real wolves must sense that, and treat him accordingly, she thought. They allowed him to run with them but offered no respect. Despite this he carried himself proudly, and when she looked at him through her binoculars – the ones Harry had bought her during the Quidditch World Cup – his face looked intelligent and alert. (That might have been her imagination, of course.) She quickly assured her guess by checking all the usual signs, then filled his number in on her parchment and turned to give it to professor Shivers. As she did so, a trace of movement near the forest edge caught her eye. She looked back quickly, putting her binoculars to her eyes again. She was just in time to catch sight of a wolf loping back into the shelter of the trees. It was not marked with a number, and it looked strange...

"Professor Shivers," she said quietly as she handed him her parchment, "are there any more werewolves in the forest?"

"What?" He smiled at her. "No, that would not be possible. They live as werewolves only a couple of nights per month – the rest of the time they are human, as you well know. And no human could live in the Forbidden Forest." He smiled again, making her feel a bit stupid.

"No, of course not," she muttered, thinking that she must have been mistaken. It had looked like a werewolf, but of course she hadn't seen quite clearly. It had been lurking in the shadows, and run off very quickly. It might have been some trick of the eyes.

"Here, professor." Harry hurried up with his piece of parchment, and Ron followed close by, apparently ready as well.

"Thank you. You were very quick, all three of you," said Marco, sounding impressed. Harry and Ron smiled nervously.

"Do you think it will count against me if I tell him that I've been two feet away from Lupin when he transformed?" Ron whispered to Hermione as they took their place at the banister again, gazing down at the sleek, grey creatures. "I recognize him easily, could pick him out from a pack of werewolves as well if I needed to. There's nothing like having two-inch fangs thrust at your face for making the memory a very vivid one."

"Hey, Herm!"

Hermione lifted her head from the breakfast table, staring muzzily at Ron as he sat down beside her, looking concerned. "What have you been up to lately? You look like you haven't slept for days."

"Parvati was on a date this weekend, with that guy from Ravenclaw she got partnered with in the Astronomy assignment. They talked about it last night. At length." Hermione yawned, cursing the girls in her room to oblivion and back. (Not literally of course. She hadn't grasped the finer detail of that curse yet.)

"Ah," said Ron and sat back, grinning. Well, he could grin, he was not the one living with the twittering idiots. Parvati and Lavender had invited Parvati's sister Padma, too, for some "inside information". The three of them had kept her up until four o'clock, and then asked her help to get Padma back to the Ravenclaw house safely. Sometimes Hermione thought of committing suicide.

It wasn't as if she didn't like girl talk. She loved chatting with Ginny and Molly, or with those two or three girls she still had contact with since her muggle school, or with her own mother, or with whoever. She just couldn't stand the insane yammer that the other girls in her room were so fond of. Oh, how tired she was. So, so tired...

"Hermione!"

"Huh?"

"I _said_," said Ron patiently, "that you've been spending a lot of time in the library lately, too. What's up? Something on your mind?"

"You're not thinking of starting up spew again, are you?" asked Harry in alarm. She bristled.

"It's not _spew_," she started, but the other two finished for her, in perfect synchronisation and mimicking her voice expertly, "it's S.P.E.W." Startled, she shut her mouth. Her two friends grinned.

"Wow, we got her to shut up."

"It's a start."

"Oh, be quiet, both of you." She cuffed them over the head, but grinned. They wore on her nerves, but she liked that in them. Cocky little bastards, she might just give them a Bedbug hex one of these days to show them their place. "I've given up on S.P.E.W., you know that. And what I've been doing in the library is looking up on some curses, just to improve my general knowledge a little." They both gave her a tired look and then turned to each other.

"General knowledge, she says."

"You think she knows that her so called general knowledge in History is roughly what Professor Binns used to write his thesis?"

"She went through it during the holidays, pointing out mistakes. Do you know what she bought to read on the train when we went to France? The complete works of Nicholas Fleming. That is forty-three volumes."

"And she finished it how fast...?"

"We had hardly crossed the Channel before she started complaining that she had nothing left to do."

Hermione smiled and let them talk. Ron was exaggerating as usual – she had just bought the first book, and it wasn't as if it was more than two or three thousand pages. Also, she had just lied a little to them. She was not just reading for pleasure right now – she was reading up on Suicidal Curses. And what she read made her frown.

Suicidal Curses were something you didn't learn at school, of course, just as little as you learned how to perform the Avada Kedavra. Professor McGonagall had only mentioned it once during a lesson, never gone into what they really meant. But to perform a Suicidal Curse, Hermione learned, in some old, musty book from the restricted section, you had to have at least a basic knowledge about spells that weren't taught in school until at least fourth year. And after that, of course, you had to be pretty damn upset.

But where had Sarah Aniki learned how to perform such a curse?

"I think it just comes natural to her," said Christine.

"What do you mean, natural?" asked Hermione carefully. She had gone to see Christine to ask if she had any idea how Sarah had learned magic on that level. The girl had only shrugged, carefree as usual.

"I mean, she's always been pretty powerful – we both are. I didn't know it was magic until I got the letter though. Now I understand better." Christine spoke as if this was all natural. "And she's always been very sensitive. She's easily upset. And then she does stupid things. But she feels better when I'm there. I feel better when I'm close to her, too."

She had answered so simply, so easily. For her it all made sense. But for Hermione, it sure didn't.

"Hermione, you're doing it _again_." Ron waved a hand in front of her face, looking exasperated. "I swear I've seen more alertness in shop dummies."

"You mean the ones at Mungo's?" Harry asked.

"I meant it as a metaphor, idiot. Herm, can't you keep yourself from zoning out for at least ten minutes at a time? Please? My fingertips are sore from constantly snapping them in your face."

"Oh, you're unbearable," she laughed, but chided herself silently for not being more attentive. She knew she had a tendency to think about other things and she knew Ron hated it, so she tried to keep herself from drifting off as much as she could. Lately she hadn't been doing too well. She had too much on her mind.

Rachel walked past, and when her eyes met Hermione's, gave her a fraction of a nod. It lightened up her mood immediately, and so did the fact that Rachel was now looking much better. She had looked paler and more unhealthy than usual for a while, but that finally seemed to have passed. And although Hermione knew that the other girl would probably hate her for it, she couldn't help worrying about her. She hadn't been in class at all for a couple of days, and Hermione couldn't but wonder if it was something serious.

"Hey, guess what?" Ron was suddenly grinning, looking very smug about something. Hermione rolled her eyes, but decided to humour him.

"No, what?"

"It's Friday!"

Hermione shared a look with Harry. "And...?" the latter asked.

"Double Potions this afternoon! For you two, that is... my day ends at lunch!" Ron threw a fist in the air, smiling gloatingly at them both. Hermione groaned. He liked to point that out, and therefore did so every Friday and sometimes during the rest of week, as well. It was driving her nuts, which was of course the entire point. She suddenly recalled an old yearning to turn Ron into a frog and wondered if she should maybe look that spell up after all. Harry, however, grinned.

"Yeah, except for the fact that you have additional Keeper's training with Ginny this afternoon at one thirty sharp." He smirked, and Ron's grin faded.

"Aw geez, did you have to remind me? That girl is nothing but a slave driver!"

"Sweet, sweet revenge. And yes she's harsh, but she's good. One of the best replacements for Angelina we could have found."

"But she's my _little sister_!"

"And therefore the optimal Captain and trainer for you, Ron," said Ginny briskly, as she sat down beside him and knocked his elbow off the table. "I've been watching you fly since you let in your first goal and I know exactly what you're doing wrong."

"Ugh," said Ron. "Can't you just get your boyfriend to predict what's going to happen in the match and then we can act accordingly?"

"Would that it was that simple," sighed Dean, and sat down opposite Ginny. "I only see really cloudy stuff, that's only understood after it's happened... I'm getting better though. But I tried betting on a Quidditch game and I lost three Galleons, so it doesn't really work as well as I'd like it to. Sadly." He sighed again, and was echoed by Ron.

"How come you two always arrive within max five seconds of each other?" he asked, looking suspiciously at Dean. "It's like you're glued together or something... ouch! What was that for!" He glared at his sister and stretched down his hand to rub against his shin. Ginny glared back.

"For being an insufferable, oblivious jerk. Oh, and a start on the punishments I'll give you for all the goals you'll let in this afternoon."

"What, are you a Seer as well now?"

"No, Ron." Ginny sighed. "Some things are just sadly obvious."

……………………………

Hello! I'm in a rush – am off to work – so here's just a quick thank you for reading the story! Hope you like it!


End file.
